thecorphub_archivefandomcom-20200214-history
Wiltshire
The Wiltshire '''(officially known as the '''Fourth Wiltshire Republic) is a country in the south east of Doggerland, comprising the cities of Juneville, Walkerton, Minevgrad and Washington E.R.. The country gained independence from the New Corporate Republic on January 28, 3020. Wiltshire was a historically great regional power, being first founded in 3009 by Jaresh Inyo, former United Federation of Planets President. However, over time (thanks to events such as the 3015 Economic Crisis and the 3017 Corporate Depression) Wiltshire was diminished to a shrinking economy with an ever weakening military. This was until 3019 when Wiltshire joined the Novanite Federation. However, this change did not last long. The September Mutiny of 3019 led to Wiltshirian independence. In December 3019, Wiltshire was invaded by the New Corporate Republic and has since been a state of the new, Chisel Enterprises backed, nation. However, with threats of a full-scale revolution, a negotiated peace was arranged where Wiltshire would become independence and the additional territories would form Neu Wiltshire. History Formation The Federation/C.E. war came to a conclusion in 2998 when Chisel Enterprises conquered the Terran holdings of the Federation and took over Washington E.R. (the capital of the Federation). This caused the largest refugee crisis of the 30th century. Nearly three million Federation citizens were displace - most of them attempting to go off world. However, pockets of refugees were unable to. Deposed President Jaresh Inyo refused to leave Terra and led a group of less than one-hundred thousand refugees to the bountiful flatlands of Wiltshire in south eastern Doggerland. The area was selected by Inyo for its naturally flat land - which made it easier for cheaper construction - and its fresh water rivers coming directly from the Almere valley. Inyo's settlement (which would become Juneville) was established in October 3007. A number of other settlements were also established in late 3007 and early 3008. By the end of 3008, over two million people lived in the eleven settlements (the two largest being Juneville and Walkerton). The First Assembly of Wiltshire was convened in Juneville on September 30, 3008 to discuss matters that affected every settlement - most notably rising sea levels to the east - however, there was no discussion of a formal unification until the Second Assembly of Wiltshire (in March 3009). The Second Assembly of Wiltshire proposed the idea to the eleven settlements, where it was decided to begin exploring the possibility of unification. Three months of discussions and negotiations led to the signing of the Wiltshire Constitution - forming the First Wiltshire Republic (led by Jaresh Inyo). Growth and Prosperity Wiltshire experimented with socialism in 3010 with the election of Thomas Shore as Prime Minister. Shore's Socialist Party was based on the left-wing philosophy of a growing state presence. Despite him winning the election against incumbent Jaresh Inyo convincingly, he was unable to make a success of his far-left ideas and so was ejected from office when Inyo returned with his new Conservative Party. The Conservatives would win every election between 3010 and 3016. The Conservatives' leadership of Wiltshire came in the leadership of four Conservative Prime Ministers. Jaresh Inyo, Edward Jellico, Martin Banks and David Loynd. The governments of Edward Jellico and Martin Banks are considered Wiltshire's golden age - with great economic prosperity and growing international influence. Prime Minister Jellico created the Jellico Doctrine - a policy of a strong military and stronger diplomatic policies which turned Wiltshire into the most powerful regional nation at the time. In addition, during his premiership, the economy boomed. This was continued under Prime Minister Martin Banks, who's economic policies delivered the Conservatives a large majority in the National Assembly. While prosperity grew, there was a growing division between the richest and the poorest. The middle-class developed during this time - and saw great prosperity. However, the lower class never saw much prosperity and, places like Walkerton, continued on with little or no economic assistance from the ever growing north. This was one of the root causes of the 3015 Economic Depression - which went onto be a major contributing factor in the 3017 Corporate Depression. Depression Depression in Wiltshire hit two-fold. Firstly, the crash of the Wiltshire Stock Exchange on December 19, 3015. This became known as the 'Panic of December 3015' where unemployment rose by over 20% - to its highest point ever. In addition, this period was nicknamed the "death of the middle class" as Wiltshire's proud middle class were thrown under the bus by corporate and private sector executives attempting to save their firms and businesses. Prime Minister David Loynd bailed out the Wiltshire Oil Company and the Central Wiltshire Bank (CWB) in an attempt to stabilize the economy on New Years 3016. However, Bank of Doggerland and the Wiltshire Maritime Trading Union (WMTU) both collapsed, along with thousands of other smaller businesses. The depression had massive consequences on Wiltshire for years to come and the Conservative government at the time attempted to follow the Jellico-Doctrine approach of economic independence and self-sustainability. However, this was now unviable as the economy was in dire need of intervention and proper regulation. Though Wiltshire experienced hardships during the first depression, it arguably left Wiltshire more able to handle economic issues in the future, which put it in a prime position to weather the effects of the second wave; The 3017 Corporate Depression. This second depression was not caused by a failure in Wiltshire and Wiltshire was only suffering from the consequences of a far larger economic crisis. Despite this, Wiltshire was able to weather much of the issue dur to the heavy regulation and much of the work of Frank Eddington's Socialist government. The affects of this second depression are considered one of the main reasons behind the founding of the Wiltshire First political movement. Eddington and Socialism Following the first economic crisis in Wiltshire in 3015, the Conservative Government, then led by David Loynd, attempted to combat this with tax cuts and regulatory restructuring of the economy (affectively loosening regulation). This seemed to fail in combatting the recession; either due to it not working or due to the dire situation the economy found itself in. During this time, the country was exposed to the harsh reality of the life of those in the lower class. The situation for those among the poorest hadn’t changed all that much; they, for the most part, couldn’t get poorer. Though with this expanding into much of the middle class, it became clearer that Conservative politics had failed. A prime opportunity for reform presented itself when in December 3015, Frank Eddington was elected Socialist Leader and, in January 3016, elected Prime Minister with a landslide Socialist majority. Eddington implemented a system of democratic-socialism. Though not as extreme as some other former party leaders (who championed a far-left Marxist reform to the economy), Eddington had reformed the Socialist Party tube that of the centre-left. His election proved that this idea had been successfully imbedded in the opinion of the Wiltshirian electorate and would continue until 3019. His most notable reforms being; * Universal Healthcare Act, 3016 * National Insurance and Pension Protection Act, 3016 * Social Housing Expansion and Construction Act, 3016 * Banking and Private Sector Act, 3016 * Citizen Dividend Act, 3017 (elements of universal basic income) * Welfare Protection and Expansion Act, 3017 These reforms created the largest welfare system in Doggerland and between 3016 and 3019 the Wiltshirian budget deficit doubled as government spending sky-rocketed to pay for such reforms. This did not have immediately poor implications, however. The economy grew and, in late 3016, achieved the highest GDP-per capita rate in Doggerland (and in Wiltshirian history) as people were getting richer, saving more and – all around becoming more prosperous. This was not meant to last, however. In 3017, the Corporate Depression struck Doggerland as the economies of the world fell into collapse – greater than in 3015. However, Wiltshire was (to a large extent) weathered from these problems. For one thing, Corporate employment in Wiltshire had fallen sharply between 3016 and 3017, mostly due to the increase in small businesses and government-employed work. In addition, new regulations in the Wiltshirian economy (as a result of Eddington’s reforms) meant that corporate intervention in the economy was at an all time low. However, things were not all good. The poverty figures were still low, however, discontent with work rose and worker’s pay decreased. In November 3017, the government ended the universal basic income plan as it simply cost the government too much money, plunging thousands back into poverty. Though these problems continued to rise, Eddington’s Socialist Party were mostly able to convince the public that this was as a result of “corporate greed” instead of mismanaging of the economy – after all, the economy was strong and withstanding the depression far greater than other, similar countries. Despite this, 3017 saw the rise of the Wiltshire First movement. This anti-immigration nationalist movement sought to bring down Eddington's Government and, despite a slow beginning, is claimed to be one of the reasons why Eddington’s government and the Socialist Party itself, left power in 3019. The continuation of Eddington’s popularity wasn’t meant to last forever. By July 3018, the Socialist Party had lost its super-majority in the National Assembly. It was able to continue as a minority government, however, this was mostly thanks to support from the Communist Party (and later the Liberal Alliance Party). This government was, expectedly, extremely unproductive and was unable to continue many of the political and economic reforms started in previous years (like the re-institution of Universal Basic Income once the economy stabilised in 3018). December 3018 saw the last chapters of Eddington's Socialist Government. It started in early December when Audrick Hill was elected Conservative Party Leader. This natural popularity boost a party gains after the election of a new leader was at the right place at the right time. The Conservatives gained two by-election seats (on a small, side election of just 3 seats – what later became known as ‘Bloody Tuesday’). This – thanks to the close margin of the November 3018 Election – saw the Conservatives become the largest party. The Socialist Party still maintained government with support from the Liberal Alliance and the Communist Party. However, on New Years Eve, a number of Liberal Alliance rebels broke away from the government to support a potential Hill-led government. This worked and a motion of no confidence was scheduled. This was not voted on as Frank Eddington resigned on January 1, 3019. Leaving the Assembly to vote for a new Prime Minister. The Socialist Candidate; Minister Rita Smith, lost to Audrick Hill – who became the first Conservative Prime Minister in three-years. 3019 Wiltshire Political Crisis The 3019 Wiltshire Political Crisis started (ironically) in 3018 with ‘Bloody Tuesday’. Following this, Frank Eddington’s Socialist Government was unable to continue in power – leading to his resignation. Directly following this, Conservative Prime Minister Audrick Hill was appointed. The Conservatives led a shaky coalition. The Conservatives, the Liberal Alliance and Wiltshire First were all participants. Though the Conservatives were not a far-right wing as they have been in history, they did run on a manifesto commitment to repeal the Universal Healthcare Act, 3016. This directly contrasted the Liberal Alliance pledge to “protect people’s healthcare”. In addition, Wiltshire First was a party “in favour of a completely free-market” and so the prospect of a vote on the issue would, ultimately, divide the government (On top of this, many Liberal Alliance members were extremely uncomfortable working with Wiltshire First, which only made the situation worse). During January, the Conservatives were being attacked from the right, mainly because of their reluctance to put such strain on their government by voting on healthcare. By mid-January, the pressure reached too much for the party to bare and so the Prime Minister held a vote on repealing the Universal Healthcare Act, in the form of the “Wiltshirian Care and Services Act, 3019”. The Liberal Alliance, feeling that their red-lines for negotiations had been broken, removed support for the government – leaving it without a parliamentary majority (note – they did not then support the Socialists and so the Conservatives, with slightly more seats, were able to stay in government despite not having a majority). The repeal vote failed (due to a majority in favour of Universal Healthcare) and the government was extremely weakened. This was a massive issue because less than a week later, the federal budget expired and required extending. The Liberals offered the Conservatives support for the extension of the (Conservative) budget, in exchange for a promise to never re-open the issue on Universal Healthcare. They refused and the vote went ahead. The vote on the budget failed in the last hour before the deadline, leading to a government shutdown. The government attempts to re-open the government with two different continuing resolution votes. However, both fail due to the Conservative’s refusal to rule out repealing Universal Healthcare. On January 18, Audrick Hill announces the dissolution of the Assembly and an early General Election to be called, due to “complete parliamentary gridlock”. The election campaign begins, with healthcare being a major factor. During the campaign, Scion President Micro Angelo visited Wiltshire, campaigning for Wiltshirian membership of the ‘Northern Novanite Federation’, which led to the Conservatives promising a referendum on membership “as soon as is reasonable”. This would become far more significant later. On January 19, Elaine Hayes dies in her home due to the complete shutdown of government healthcare, thanks to the government shutdown, leading to major debate over whether government healthcare is the most efficient form of healthcare. The debate raged and, on January 24, it was announced that the Conservatives had won a parliamentary majority in the election (for the first time since October 3014. Audrick Hill was now in a position to repeal healthcare and re-open the government. He did both things within the first two days of the new Assembly being sworn in. Rita Smith loses a vote of no confidence in her Socialist Leadership, being quickly replaced by Harry Melbourne. Shortly after, Smith announces her splitting with the Socialist Party to form new “Labour” Party. The government was now open and socialised medicine had been repealed. The government would now enact its economic policies of tax cuts and wasteful spending cuts as well as deregulation. However, before it could do much of this, it had to fulfil another commitment; hold a referendum on membership of the single, Northern Novanite Federation market. The campaign towards this was not hotly divisive, not many people cared. It was, for the most part, a campaign on whether we should trade with Novenae over new EFR partners. Eventually, in an extremely close result, Wiltshire voted to join the NNF and, on February 1, Wiltshire joins the common market. This was huge. Many in the Conservative Party was furious as Hill, who had promised the referendum, and so demanded his resignation. This was not immediately successful, however, a large group of Conservative Members (known as the Freedom Caucus) announced they would vote down the government, if the Prime Minister didn’t resign. This ultimately led to his resignation on February 6, with a leadership contest to follow. The leadership contest was supposed to occur over a few week period and Hill would finally resign as Prime Minister at the end of the current session of the Assembly (most likely end of March/April time). However, the leadership was a quick affair. Sam Schröder was appointed Party Leader and began pressuring Hill to resign early. Once again, the pressure worked and Hill resigned on February 11, 3019. Samantha Schröder started as an incredibly popular Prime Minister. The political crisis wouldn’t have been a political crisis for long as Schröder seemed to be able to unite the country and was widely expected to defeat Harry Melbourne’s “weakened socialism” and Rita Smith’s “divided left”. However, it seemed destined not to work out. Schröder was caught, only days into office, having an alleged affair with Scion President Micro Angelo. Many began to question her support for the NNF as a favour towards her sexual partner. This caused havoc for her leadership. Despite being able to hold on, she became the most unpopular Prime Minister in recorded history as only 9% in a poll “supported the Prime Minister” (the left never supported her and most of the right are considered traditional). Schröder’s premiership was seemingly doomed before it really took off. His was confounded when, in March 3019, the NNF was dissolved and the Novanite Federation (a single nation with a single President etc) was formed. Schröder, with the advice of another referendum, decided to join this new nation. The title “Prime Minister” was repealed in exchange for “Provincial Director” and the “National Assembly” became the “Provincial Assembly”. This angered many, including the Freedom Caucus, who said “The NF isn’t the NNF” and demanded Schröder redact support for it. This climaxed in the April 3019 Wiltshire General Election when a weakened and split Conservative vote led to the new Labour Party winning the most seats. Despite not winning a majority, Rita Smith was in a position to form a coalition between herself and the Socialist Party. This was the first election ever that one of the two major parties didn’t win the most seats. Rita Smith became Director, with Harry Melbourne as Deputy Director. However, discontent loomed. Many were still angry with Wiltshire’s position in the Novanite Federation and wanted reform. In addition, as Smith moved away from her “Novanite-sceptic” position towards a more “pro-NF” position, many felt betrayed by her Labour Party. In the next election, Smith was able to maintain her position as the largest party. However, the Conservative vote and the Socialist vote completely collapsed, in favour of the “Anti-NF alliance” in the form of Wiltshire First, the Liberal Alliance and the Green Party (all mostly anti-NF parties). They won enough seats to form a “National Coalition”, led by independent AM Fillmore Grey. Grey’s government was, once again, seen as an end to the political crisis. He was popular and instituted many green party reforms, including bike paths. In addition, he held two referendums; * Wiltshire Flag Referendum (where Wiltshirians picked the iconic fern to represent them on their flag) * Wiltshire Independence Referendum (where Wiltshirians picked whether they wanted to stay in the NF). The second referendum on Novanite was far more aggressive than the first, with a majority voting to remain Novanite. However, the large percentage (47%) who voted to leave were extremely angry with the result. The political crisis came to an end by September, however, a social crisis ensued. List of Presidents There has been only 1 President of the Wiltshire Republic, Gaius Selan, who was elected in 3020. List of Heads of Government There have been 16 Heads of Wiltshirian government since 3009, including Prime Ministers and Directors. Here is a complete list; Category:Active Category:Faction Category:City